Response To A Person Upset About God Allowing the World To Suffer

For this week I am going to post a response I had to an atheist recently who told me that if there was a God then He didn’t care about us and allowed us to suffer.

Here it is…

“You’re missing the point. Read the beginning of the Bible. Humans sinned which caused the world to suffer. The Bible says the “wages of sin is death.”* It also says, “Satan is the god of this world”**. This is due to the curse humanity is under because of sin. Despite this God breaks the curse through Jesus, one of many times throughout the Bible and history God has bailed out the human race.

But it is never good enough. Again read the Bible for reference, despite every time He did  help or intervene the majority of the Israelite’s rebelled or complained again and again. In history and day to day life it is no different.

I will admit that I do this. I have prayed and seen answered prayers but did that stop me from complaining to God later? Of course not.

We as humans continue to sin, allow others to suffer, we literally have weapons that could destroy the Earth in a day. We do the opposite of what God wants consistently, over and over. Claim we are good but in reality we all live in some form of comfort while others die on the street, then we ask God, “why do you allow people to suffer?”

Some day He will ask us, “why did you?”

Look at who we truly are as a people, looked at how we handle things, what we do under our own free will. Look at the World.

I chose to praise God for intervening ever. The fact despite our deep flaws He gives us a path to Heaven at all is gracious.

And can we really argue with the creator of the universe that He isn’t doing a good enough job? That is filled with pride and it is silly to argue with Him when we as humans are in charge of the Earth and continue to make such flawed decisions.

As far as suffering goes, look at Jesus. He was born poor, doubted by friends, families and neighbors. He continued to live poor, constantly on the run from enemies, dedicated His life to helping others, so one of His best friend could betray Him for a very small sum of money. He then was brutally beaten and killed in public, so we can all be saved. He did this willingly, suffering while helping others.

Could you honestly stand before Him as a flawed human being and say, “Why didn’t you make everything perfect for me and others?”

Sad thing is He promises to but many can’t wait and endure a small amount of what He went through.”

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get through to this person but I pray that he allows God in his heart.

But maybe my response will help you who are reading this.

Either way…

Praise God in it all.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

*https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A23&version=KJV

**https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A4&version=NLT

Does God Want To Bring Judgment?

Many think of God as this evil tyrant who can’t wait to bring judgment. But in Ezekiel 18:23 it says “²³ Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

This proves those views to be false. God only judges when He has to. The books of the prophets are filled with God’s warnings of incoming judgment. Why would He warn us if He was evil and wanted to bring judgment on us all.

All He asks is for His people to repent.

It’s been almost 2000 years since Jesus came to Earth, God has withheld judgment so that as many as possible in the World can be saved. With how far the gospel has spread and the availability of the Truth, God has every right to bring forth the end. But He waits.

And that is because He loves us all.

That is why it is so important for us Christians to not wish judgment on others. When someone has harmed us or has done evil things we shouldn’t delight in their coming judgment. We should feel sorrow for them. We should pity them.

Nothing they did can to others can equal what will happen to their soul if they don’t repent.

Show love to those people.

Pray for them to come to the Lord. Remember we are all guilty.

Jesus paid the penalty for us. Let’s pray that others allow Him to do so for them as well.

Have a blessed week,
Chris.

Sources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A23%2CEzekiel+33%3A11&version=NKJV

 

The Common Denominator is people

Most everyone has a bogeyman or men that they blame all their problems or the problems of the world on. Sometimes its one particular person in their life, or a world leader. Sometimes it is a group of people based on their political beliefs, religious beliefs, race, gender or any other difference.

They say all the trouble and problems in their life or the world would be solved if only that person or group of people would change or be gone.

Well turn on the news, you will hear stories of people killing others, robbing others, hurting others, attempting to destroy all that is good. These people are from all different races, religions and backgrounds. Men, women, sometimes even children.

What’s the common denominator here? It’s people.

People are the ones who do the evil, evil does not discriminate, it does not chose race, gender, political affiliation or even the religious. Evil can infiltrate the heart of anyone.

Truth is we have one enemy, it is Satan, he is the one ruining the hearts of these people. But their is good news he was defeated by Jesus Christ.

Now there is many good people in the world, who do wonderful things but the truth is no one is sinless.

In order to be saved we must accept the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us. His death on the cross gave us  salvation and reconciled us with God.

Once saved we have to remember to be the light of the World, don’t let yourself or Christians in general become the own personal “bogeyman” of someone.

Remember the wonderful good deeds that we Christians do can actually be done by non-Christians, we have to show the world the light of God in our lives. We have to show what makes us different from others.

Show the love God has shown you.

Have a blessed week,
Chris

Through Christ

Philippians 4:13 New King James Version (NKJV)
13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I wrote about the importance of this Bible verse to me. Today I want to write about the importance of the verse overall.

Every obstacle or challenge, whether it be a financial problem or a family problem or a sickness or whether it be spiritual, through grief, through strife, through sin and addiction anything and every battle can be faced by just looking at this verse.

There is hope in this verse, all things are possible through this verse.

Truly all things are possible through Christ, we see this not just in this verse but throughout the New Testament.

The blind saw, the hungry were fed with little, the dead were raised, demons were defeated, sinners immersed deep in their sin were saved, miracle after miracle.

We are saved through Christ, He chose to die for our sins, all we have to do is accept His sacrifice.

There is hope in God, He believes in you, believe in Him.

Honor Him, love Him, do all things through Him.

Thank you God, truly I can do all things through You who strengthens me.

Have a blessed week,
Chris

The Circle of Forgiveness

Forgiveness in the Christian Doctrine is like a circle, it all connects and if any part of the circle is broken it loses its shape and meaning.

The first step to forgiveness is to ask God to forgive you of your sins, He will always forgive you. That is the most important and crucial part of the circle. In order to enter it you must first ask to be forgiven, God is there waiting for you to join Him inside.

Salvation comes from forgiveness from God, without asking you cannot receive it.

It is also important to continue to repent after you’re saved. God knows what is in your heart but showing obedience by praying to Him after a mistake shows Him that you love Him.

Remember your salvation is not a license to sin, don’t abuse your relationship with the Lord. Show Him the same love He shows you.

The second part of the circle is to forgive yourself. That is a very difficult task, forgiving yourself for all you have done. Just last night I laid awake thinking about things I did in High School.

But remember God is more important than yourself, if He can forgive you. Then you can forgive yourself.

It is very similar to loving your neighbor as you love yourself, if you don’t love yourself how can you love your neighbor the same? Well if you can’t forgive yourself how can you forgive your neighbor?

Which brings us to the third and final part of the circle, forgiving others.

God calls us to forgive others it’s included in the Lord’s Prayer and in many verses throughout the Bible.

In Matthew 6:14-15 we read, “14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Also in Luke 17: 3-4 it says, “3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

I will include a link to 20 verses on forgiveness in the Bible.

Once again I must emphasize we are not greater than God so if He chooses forgive others than you should too.

The circle of forgiveness goes like this…

God forgives, your forgive yourself and then you forgive others. God will always forgive you so the circle can only be broken by yourself. It is also up to you to keep the circle flowing so you can get back to God.

The Lord is waiting on you to enter the circle.

Have a blessed week,
Chris

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/forgiveness-bible-verses/

The Journey: Conclusion

Woman on a Bridge

It was Memorial Day and we took Jane’s Dad out to dinner. We had decided to go to Double T Diner and take the back roads home. But at the last minute Jane suggested we go to TGI Fridays, so it made sense just to go the normal way home.

On the way there is a bridge you have to cross, when we arrived at that point we noticed two cars in front of us had come to a stop, the passenger in the second car was outside, talking frantically on his cell phone. Jane saw a young lady standing next to the bridge, peering over the side. Jane yelled at me to “STOP THE CAR!”

Jane rushed out of the car, when she did the young lady began to swing her leg over the bridge. By the time Jane got to her, she was sitting on the bridge, legs dangling over the side, getting ready to jump. Jane got to her just in time and began consoling her, rubbing her back. The young woman was a nurse who just got served with divorce papers, she had two little twin girls at home but felt like she didn’t want to burden anyone anymore.

I was frozen, not sure what to do. I wanted to pull her off the bridge but I was in her line of sight. What if she saw me and jumped? The wife of the man on the cell phone got out of the car and went over to them. As it turned out the woman was a nurse also, and began talking with her. Jane began to pray (she told me later it was the hardest she had ever prayed in her life). She was praying for a miracle to get this young lady off the bridge.

Than out of the blue a large man came from behind the young lady and pulled her off the bridge. The young lady began to weep, Jane patted the man on the back and thanked him. I watched the man lean over the side of the bridge, breath a sigh and stare out into to the water. Everyone was talking to the young lady now, I looked down at my watch and checked my cell phone, when I looked up the man was gone. I was puzzled who this was and asked the people in the other car if the man was with them, they told me he wasn’t.

No one saw the man arrive or leave, there was no additional cars, we heard no engines in idle, and we were on the middle of a bridge. Who was the man? Was it an angel from God? No matter what conclusions you draw if it wasn’t for Jane, the nurse and the mysterious man those children would have been without their mother.

After watching her help save that woman, I realized Jane had saved me, that’s what she had always tried to do for people. Since she was a little girl she would show kindness, giving to the homeless (one time as a child she gave a homeless man her Happy Meal), being there for friends and family in times of need, always being loyal and showing love to the people she cared about. She would forgive people, and love them, never giving up on her kindness. She was a better Christian than I was even before she was a Christian. God sent her to me, to change my life, to save my life, she was everything I had been asking for.

I realize now that no matter what you do in your life, no matter what bridges you burn there will be a cross for you to walk on to your salvation.